Dear Reader,

Happy Spring! What an incredible beginning to this season it has been. Both individually and as a community, we are experiencing notable shifts. March tends to bring about transformative changes and a bit of upheaval. Having been born during the March eclipse, I always feel the intensity, but also the magic bubbling beneath the surface of this period.

We also faced what will now be remembered as Ice Storm 2025, joining the ranks of our memories from 2013 and 1998. I hope you all have been keeping warm and comfortable, and that the loss of trees hasn't weighed too heavily on your emotions or your wallets. Proactive tree care is increasingly becoming more important with climate change and what will be regular extreme weather patterns. If you need more support for your trees and gardens due to storm damage, please get in touch here or email hello@michaelrosegardens.com.

I feel especially compelled to discuss pruning in this newsletter, with all of the damage out there. It’s also a great time of year to get pruning tasks checked off the list. Pruning will be my whole life during the next three weeks for my clients, and I can’t wait as it is a nice warm up into gardening season.

I am no longer doing treework and prefer to work on the ground these days, but I began my arborist apprenticeship immediately after the ice storm in 2013, which brought about a significant workload and long hours from the start (I need to take a moment to say thank you hydro workers and tree people who have, and still are, working around the clock restoring our power and keeping us safe).

Tree and shrub care remains a central part of my gardening practice. My mentor was Doug Steel, a truly caring and knowledgeable arborist in Guelph. Together, we tackled a considerable amount of storm damage in the region. As a novice arborist, my initial six months were spent primarily operating a chipper, handling ropes, and using a chainsaw on the ground. I was only allowed to practice pruning on fallen branches during that time. It took another 6 months before I was permitted to prune living trees. It was a true apprecnticeship. At the time, I felt frustrated by the delays in my training. However, I now recognize that these experiences were not setbacks, but rather valuable lessons in learning to do things correctly. Today, I take great pride in my work, committed to ensuring that there is care and precision with every cut. Thank-you Doug.

Pruning is truly a blend of art and science. Each pruning cut creates an open wound, making it essential to execute the cut correctly, allowing the hormones and cells outside the “branch bark ridge” to unite and heal effectively. During this time of year, when trees and shrubs remain dormant, I enjoy focusing on structural and deadwood pruning. With no leaves obstructing your view, you can clearly observe the underlying structure of your shrub or tree. The “bones”.

P.S, when I refer to a tree here, I mean one that can be safely pruned from the ground or a step ladder, as a home gardener. For larger trees and hazard storm damage, please reach out to an ISA Certified Arborist!

An allee of Malus ‘White Angel.” These trees are pruned annually for dead and dying branches to encourage light and airflow. Blooms and fruit are incredibly well laden year after year. Beloved specimens that have architectural, ecological and aesthetic importance in this garden.

At this time of year, I focus on rejuvenation pruning where it is suitable. I typically avoid this for spring-flowering shrubs, reserving it for after their blooms have faded in order to maximize the flower display in spring. Each situation is unique and requires careful consideration. For rejuvenation, I usually remove 3-5 of the oldest canes from a shrub (including shrub roses), which promotes the growth of fresh shoots and encourages more blooms in the following season. I plan to do about three rounds of this, once a year in March or April. It takes time and there is no instant gratification, but I am embracing a pace that requires thought and pause. How precious it is to appreciate a moment considering form and shape.

For spring-flowering shrubs, it's best to prune immediately after flowering, but before the end of June, as the buds for the following year will have developed the necessary hormones to bloom. Pruning too late may result in losing a gorgeous froth of blooms the following spring.

Some rules of thumb for pruning anytime of year, but this is the nicest time to do it, without disturbing the soil too much:

Focus on pruning out all deadwood.
Prune out any broken limbs.
Prune out anything diseased, but sanitize your cutting tool between cuts. I keep on hand bleach wipes to make this easy while working in the field, but I want to find a less wasteful option.
Prune out rubbing and crossing branches. This usually involves choosing the branch growing in a more ideal direction, or is less damaged, to retain in favor of the other
These simple, annual practices are good for encouraging air and light flow, vibrant new growth and elevating the beauty and health of your small tree or shrub :)

I would also encourage pruning in a way that honours the form of the shrub you have planted. Enough is enough with pruning shrubs and trees into shapes they don’t want to be. These shrubs don’t want to be perfectly spherical lollipops, and it’s too much work that does not need to be done. Appreciate the cascade of your Bridalwreath Spirea, the exfoliating bark of your Ninebark, the grandiosity of Beautybush. Be thoughtful and contemplative when choosing your plants for your garden. It’s helpful to read the height and spread at maturity on the tag, and to research, to make sure you purchase a plant that can have its true expression of form where its planted.

Bridalwreath Spirea want to be magnifcent giants. Give them the space to be who they want to be, or plant them as a hedge and let them become a big fluffy wave. Rejuvenate annually by removing 3-5 of the oldest canes and keeping on top of deadwood on the inside of the shrub for vital health and airflow.

Products I love this month for pruning and garden related tasks

I am a a loyal customer and fan of the professional GR Pro Line Niwaki pruning tools. I use the lightweight secateurs, barracuda cutters and shears on a daily basis. They are bright yellow, making them less likely to be lost forever in the garden. I find they fit my hand well, and I love the ritual of cleaning and sharpening the blades with their crean mate, sharpening stones and camellia oil. I order mine here. I am hard on my tools and they get used all day every day. I have found that sourcing high quality and well made tools is the best option for me. Buy it once, care for it, and never buy it again is my mantra.
In my effort to lessen my footprint, be zero plastic and minimize excess waste, I have invested in the Niwaki Leaf Bags and Pruning Sheets over the years. I also have an Oilskin Carrier. These make clean up a breeze, and it feels good in my spirit to have well made, reusable items that will last me years to come.
I was encouraged to purchase this book early in my career and I return to it over and over. It is considered a pruning bible, with a ton of comprehensive information and data if that is your speed. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning, Third Edition by Edward F Gilman is available from the ISA International Website or can be special ordered from you local bookstore.
Tick protection is so important, and as gardeners this needs to be in the back of our minds at all times. I pick up locally made Pawsitive Animal Wellness Bug Off Spray at the Fox Hollow Pet Boutique in Warkworth to use on my dogs as well as myself. It is an all natural product full of a potent cocktail of tick repelling essential oils, and I have been finding it to be very effective at work and at home.

Interesting reads

I work with my clients on an indiviudal and incredibly nuanced basis with how we want to tackle spring clean up. However, I do find that the less I do in the fall, the more the garden rewards with increased biodiversity, soil health, pollinators and all things good come Spring. I always love to read what Benjamin Vogt has to say about this topic on his blog and newsletters:

https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/its-not-about-cleaning-up

The Chicago Botanic Garden recently released their Echinacea trials. A perennial favorite and staple, I am always seeking out new cultivars and top performers to source.

Amsonia is a beloved perennial that has made its appearance in every garden design I have made. Gardens both small and sprawling, gardens both urban and rural. I love it so much. I enjoyed learning about Amsonia cultivars with this Mt Cuba study from a couple of years ago, that I return to often.

I have finished listening to the audiobook version of “If Women Rose Rooted: The Power of the Celtic Woman”. I found it transformative and moving. I feel like my background and heritage and chosen profession made me attracted to the book, and it activated some blood memories deep within me. Women have been and will always be guardians of the Earth. The stories of Celtic mythology were simply magical to listen to on my drives to and from the willow fields this early spring.

The beautiful book Beyond the Meadows has been the main source of inspiration and atmospheric quality we are striving to capture in a home garden design made for Sundays Company, a plant based apothecary in Northumberland County. I think this source book should be in every gardeners library, not only because it is executed beautifully, but its a real mission and testament to self sufficiency, biodiversity and ecology that can be created in a humble home garden. I will share more of this beloved project as it moves along into the implentation stages.

To my eye, natural materials look best in the garden. This is a hand woven peony crown made with green willow. It is a beautiful sculpture while it awaits the peonies to bloom, where it will then fade into the background and provide support while the peonies run the show. I like to get these made and set out now or soon, well in advance of plants pushing up. This is the first peony I made, in a workshop with ***The Branch Ranch*** *right here in Warkworth.*

Garden chores for April

Assess post-ice storm damage. Determine what you can mend safely yourself and what needs to be outsourced, or phased out over time.
Walk the property and find where you might need more architecture, structure and bones with shrubs and trees. A strong foundation is essential in most garden styles.
Create an existing botanical inventory and planting wishlist in your garden journal. Taking notes and observations is so important; believe me, you will forget as you get to work in the garden.
Prune dead, diseased, broken, and rubbing/crossing branches on shrubs and small trees
Get your plant supports in. I usually leave mine as much as possible over the winter, but depending on the material, they will need to be stored and brought out every year. (P.S we are making a bunch of willow peony crowns and obelisks for spring markets and some for clients, too. Best to get an order in soon if this material and aesthetic moves you. Get in touch here.)
Spring gives us life and renews us and the desire to get out there can be tempting. Avoid disturbing overwintering insects and pollinators that will make your garden sing with life. Hold off on your spring clean up, or find a way to leave cuttings, leaves and debris intact and somewhere on your property. Have you considered a dead hedge?
I enjoy pruning the dried and spent flowers of Hydrangea paniculata at this of year. Preferably, they are left intact over the winter months as a point of interest in the garden.
Some gardeners are starting their seeds indoors. I am not one of those gardeners. I don’t enjoy it and for me, there simply isnt time. But I admire all who are able to do it. I source and purchase seedlings, and I am spending April getting my wishlist for self and clients ordered and purchased.
As you are ordering your plants, consider plugs! They are smaller, but they adapt to their new growing environment really well, and there is far less waste from black plastic. Dropseed Nursery in PEC is great for this.
If you are growing willow for basketry, fencing, and sculpture, best to get the harvest done as soon as possible. Basketry willow must be harvested before it breaks dormancy, and willow is one of the first species to bud out in spring. It’s down to the wire now. I will be doing a mad dash on it this week before I am full tilt Spring gardening and planting the completed designs from the winter.

Until next month. Happy Spring!

-MR

April Gardening After the Ice

Products I love this month for pruning and garden related tasks

Interesting reads

Garden chores for April